Translation error trips up Target on name of sandals

Every weekday, PR Daily associate editor Alan Pearcy highlights the day’s most compelling stories and amusing marginalia on the Web in this, #TheDailySpin.

If Target wasn’t already having a piss-poor couple of weeks after catching heat over identifying the color of a plus-size maxi dress as “manatee gray,” it certainly is now.

According to Yahoo’s Shine blog, the retailer is again having trouble with its labeling, this time due to a translation error for a line of Mossimo sandals initially called “Orina.” While the store first believed the word meant "peace" or "peaceful" in Russian, Target soon learned it means "urine" in Spanish. The sandals, which have been available since February, are losing the moniker as the retailer removes that section of the name in-store and online, according to NBC Latino.

As was suggested by one of its readers, Consumerist argues that the error isn’t so much offensive as it displays “an apparent lack of attention to detail on the part of a national retailer.” It also asks, “Does no one speak Spanish at Target HQ or have access to this thing we call Google?”

In its defense, Target isn’t the only business to fall victim to the same mistranslation. As Fritinancy notes, the “etymological fallacy” also hit a coffeeshop in California regrettably named “Café Orina.” How do you suppose the coffee tastes?

On a similar note, Matadoru compiled a list of 10 foreign words we can’t translate.

From mistranslation to mispronunciation, The Huffington Post highlights five English words that are commonly phonated incorrectly.

Phonetics and enunciation often have much to do with correct accents. I don’t imagine that’ll be an issue for YouTuber Brizzy Voices, who displays her verbal talents by performing Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, the Places You Will Go!” using an impressive 68 different dialects. It may not be the Burning Man treatment, but it’s definitely worth watching: (via CollegeHumor)

Speaking properly is another story entirely. Actually, it’s an entire genre. mental_floss prepared an 18-point guide from 19th-century etiquette books that should interest communicators on how to converse appropriately.

They don’t date back to the 19th century, but Mashable’s assortment of 15 favorite kids commercials from the ’90s seems just as archaic. “What is Gak?” Glad you asked:

A different childhood favorite is getting modernized. Reports USA Today, the Kool-Aid Man is getting refreshed as a strictly computer-generated character that takes on the personality of a celebrity attempting to prove he’s just a normal guy. Oh, yeah? Yeah.

While the Kool-Aid Man adjusts to his new role, anyone looking to land a role in the field of public relations might want to pay attention to these three steps from Business 2 Community on how to get that dream job.

The job might be done for Staples and Radio Shack. Yahoo Finance put both brands on its list of five big retailers that will be gone in five years.

Looking even closer at the future of the industry, Business Insider created a slide deck on the future of retail as part of the site’s “Future of Business” series sponsored by SAP. The series examines how new technologies are reshaping the way various companies and organizations run.

Meanwhile, Time magazine reports that this new future will likely include more products and technologies “Made in the USA,” a notion that Rana Foroohar writes is making a comeback as the U.S. economy continues its slow recovery.

Known for supplying free apples when first starting his company during the Great Depression, Leo Burnett defied the odds by creating one of the advertising industry's foremost agencies during an even worse economic time in America. As an ode to its valiant founder and his story, the now global agency’s Australian arm crafted its own namesake brew called Leo’s Cider. According to B&T, earnings from the cider will pay for up to $100,000 of free strategic and creative advice for a lucky business:

Always brewing something, Starbucks is cutting prices on its in-store coffee starting in May. How come? Businessweek says the company is likely betting on widening income inequality as it plays into its own industry game theory. With coffee prices at a three-year low, Columbia Business School professor Rita McGrath suggests Starbucks is sending a signal to its competitors and consumers that it is committed to lower prices without adding the needles hassle of sales promotions or coupons.